Two former Parramatta Eels players are accused of harbouring semi-automatic weapons and possessing more than half-a-million dollars in cash after dramatic arrests in Sydney's Centennial Park yesterday.

A former US military member suspected of shooting five dead at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale airport had been evaluated for mental health issues, US media reports.

Estaban Santiago, 26, is suspected of opening fire near the baggage carousel about noon Friday after arriving on a flight from Canada and loading his gun in the bathroom.

Five people were killed and eight people were injured in the attack, Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca said.

US Federal sources told NBC News Mr Santiago was taken to a medical facility for evaluation after walking into the FBI office in Anchorage, Alaska last November and claiming that his mind was being controlled by the CIA.

His aunt, Maria Luisa Ruiz, said Mr Santiago was in a “state of desperation”.

"It looks like he lost his mind. He would say that he would see things. I don't know. So he went to the hospital. That's what the mother told me, who lives in Puerto Rico,” Ms Ruiz said.

She said he had recently become a father, and that after the birth he was “happy with his baby”.

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CNN reports the suspect joined the National Guard in Puerto Rico in 2007, before spending 10 months in Iraq in 2010.

Mr Santiago served as a private first class and combat engineer and received half a dozen medals before being discharged from the Alaska Army National Guard in August 2014 for "unsatisfactory performance", an army spokesperson told CNN.

Asked whether terrorism was a possible motive, authorities told reporters at a press conference it was "too early" to tell.

"We don't know if it is current, but every time you get a bunch of people like at baggage claim or like outside of TSA (Transportation Security Administration) where you're going to security or lines at the ticket counter, it's a soft target," Mr Nelson told CNN.

Mayor Barbara Sharief said the gunman appeared to have acted alone.

"He was a lone shooter, and we have no evidence at this time that he was acting with anyone else. He is in custody, and we are currently investigating," she told CNN.

Witness John Schlicher told MSNBC described the shooter as a "slender man" who was "directly firing" at passengers waiting for their bags to come off the carousel.

"I put my head down and prayed," Mr Schlicher said, adding that his wife gave first aid to someone who had been shot in the head.

Another witness, Mark Lea, told MSNBC "there was no rhyme or reason to it".